michael's school is holding a 'read-a-thon'. the elementary school in the district with the most minutes will receive a visit from a jazz player. he has been very excited. he can either read himself or be read to. he has been taking the illustrated scriptures to the stove and standing in front of the clock and counting the minutes he starts and ends while reading. he has also been reading in the car when we drive to gran-patty's.in addition, we have started reading harry potter. i've tried to start them with him in years past and they haven't quite held his attention. this time around he is enjoying them. i love the books. i've read each two or three times already. partway through book one michael said, 'i wish there was a movie of this book.' if he only knew. i promised him we'd watch the first movie. amy was reticent. her recollection of the movie (that we hadn't seen for years) was that is was too mature for him.
she previewed it and was reluctant. i insisted and she compromised with three scenes we would fast forward.
michael and abby ended up in her bed scared that night while i was at work. who was right? :)
anyway. we are partway through book 2--chamber of secrets--and we've come across the snake voice from the walls that says, 'kill. blood. die.' etc. i've edited parts of the more scary language... but i'm starting to wonder. are the books too mature for him?
what say you? have you read the books to your kids? at what ages?
what about the movies. a girl in michael's class said she's seen them all and if she doesn't want bad dreams she has to watch them in the morning and not think about them all day before bed...
9 comments:
Well, I'm a bit of a contradiction. I do not allow TV or video games in my home, but my kids have read all 7 books (actually we've listened to the Jim Dale audio productions, to which if you have not listened, you have not really lived) and have seen all 6 movies. Including #6 in 3D on a giant Imax screen. :-) We've also listened to all the Eragon books, which are more intense than Harry Potter.
In my mind, the criteria to evaluate are:
1. Scariness. I know my kids and I know the kinds of things that will give them nightmares. They've seen Harry Potter since they were very small. None of the movies contains elements that have ever caused nightmares for my kids. You have to make your own judgment. I don't think there is anything at all wrong with scariness in and of itself (as opposed to sexuality, gratuitous violence, glorification of evil). The only thing that matters is how your child will personally react, and only you know that.
2. Sexuality. This is a deal-breaker for me. Happily, the Harry Potter books and movies are free of any of this.
3. Violence. I don't like graphic violence, and certainly not gratuitous violence. The Harry Potter books and movies definitely have their share of violence, but it is not graphic and not gratuitous. And it generally all centers around concepts of good and evil.
4. Evil. If evil glorified? If so, then that is a deal-breaker. Part of what I love about the Harry Potter books is that they center around the struggle between good and evil. There is no ambiguity in Harry Potter. The protagonists are all on the good side, and the books and movies all end on (mostly) hopeful notes, with the good prevailing. This is a powerfully good message for children.
5. Profanity. I am very sensitive to profanity entering my kids ears. I am very discriminating when it comes to profanity. I don't think there is one word of profanity in the Harry Potter movies.
I can't tell you the number of really good conversations we have had with our kids, using Harry Potter as a jumping off point. I would say that your boy is certainly old enough for the first movie, if you are there with him. Another thing that has helped, has been seeing "the making of" special features-- this helps my boys see that the scary scenes are all fake.
Good luck in your decisions!
Our oldest had night terrors when he was a baby and as he had gotten older (almost 4) they have gone away. But if he watches anything scary during the day that night we hear about it, and he has slept with a light on before. So for us no scary things allowed until he can verbally tell me he is ok at night. If he is telling you at night that he isn't feeling very brave then it must be on his mind right? Maybe do what your friend said and only in the morning so he has a buffer time to think of other things? Good luck its a hard one to answer!
I'm going to have to side with Amy on this one. The way I see it, kids are only "kids" for a very short time. I want to preserve that innocence and purity for as long as possible. No need to rush into more mature things. Especially when he's only in kindergarten!
Just the other day Zach told me he had a bad dream. It was about crazy chickens. :) I'm happy to let that be the worst thing that enters his mind for now.
I don't see a problem with reading, because the images are in their own imagination. But I think the movies are pretty intense and will place things in their minds that most 5-yr-olds haven't been exposed to yet. There is a reason they are not rated G.
Just my opinion.
I think that the books are fine. I have read book 1 with Brinlee-bops and she loved it. We took a small break before book 2 with Dicken's Christmas Carol during the holidays and Tom Sawyer right now. I am filling in a little time in between the HP books with others because of how the books mature from one to the next.
i think you know my opinion.
I'm going to start them w/ Eliza after we finish the Chronicles of Narnia series. She has only read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe so far, and that is book 2 anyway (which is violent as well). But I feel as a Mormon culture, we're much more tolerant of violence in our media than say, sex, and I think it's a bad contradiction. We'll read the Harry Potter books, but she won't watch the movies for at least a couple more years.
Over Christmas break I tried to start little Farcles on the first Harry Potter, but after many sleepless nights I switched back to his favorite "Berenstain Bears" books. He's such a tender little guy...
gabriele: thank you for your thoughtful response!
i agree with your thoughts on sex, violence and profanity.
we are certainly searching out the balance for scariness right now. i like the bright lines of good and evil that are drawn in these books. michael may innocent, but increasingly the kids he interacts with at school/community/church may not be. knowing this and seeing harry and his friends deal with it is helpful. more helpful though are the discussions spurred by the story.
#6 on a giant 3d screen? impressive. no way to get closer to the action than that :)
what are your thoughts on harry and ron's poor school performance/effort? i find myself praising hermione often for her hard work at school and the results she displays when the group of friends actually need to know something...
dana: were the night terrors related to harry potter? maybe harry potter in the morning and boxcar kids in the evenings...
jill: crazy chickens? sounds worse to me than voldemort :)
innocence. it is a powerful possesion. it's hard to know the balance to keep between innocence and knowledge. i guess it depends on what a child is forced to confront and at what age...
matt: sounds like some fun books.
stevie::)
audrey: and what year will you start the movies..? 8? 10? one or two each year till 13? all at once..?
aj: poor farcles.
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